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Replies to: Any Wells Scholars or Parents?

I am not sure how many Wells Scholars will come to this forum. Friend's daughter got it.

Since Wells Scholars probably are waiting for admissions from other top schools, they may be waiting for a need-based scholarship also. Therefore, they are not likely to make the final decision until they receive the financial aid package. This is also true for Kelley Scholars.

The Wells Scholar I know is unlikely to have much regret for accepting this incredibly competitive award. The other school she was interested in was Northwestern which seems to be prideful that it offers no merit aid. The school can arrange for you to borrow $50,000+a year.I know of a couple of kids who turned down the scholarship to go to MIT and Duke to study engineering. The Wells Scholarship is designed to be so attractive that it is not rejected.

My daughter is a freshman Wells Scholar. She decided to accept the Wells before hearing about admissions decisions from her top schools, so she didn't actually turn any top schools down. She absolutely loves IU and being a Wells Scholar opens a lot of doors on campus. So far it looks like a great decision for her. About 20 were originally offered. About half of them took the scholarship and the other half went to top schools (Harvard, Penn and Duke come to mind).

I am the parent of a Wells Scholar who is about ready to finish up at IU. I just want to weigh in and say that it has been an amazing experience. The Wells program opened up many doors for her at IU, and I feel as though her college experience could not have been any more interesting and enriching than it has been as a Wells Scholar. She was able to study abroad for a semester and travel Europe, has participated in some very meaningful extracurricular opportunities on and off the IU campus, and is graduating with an incredible job already in hand. Her fellow Wells Scholars are entering the fields of consulting, investment banking, and journalism and pursuing medical school and a variety of graduate school opportunities. The Wells program staff was generous, thoughtful, and kind as she was going through the college selection process and has been very supportive during her time at IU. She has made life-long friends in her fellow Wells Scholars. I cannot say how her experience would have been at an Ivy League school or any of the other colleges she passed on, but I can say that the Wells Scholar program has been wonderful for her.

This is far too late for your original question, but I just came across the thread and figured I would respond in case others look at this thread later on.

I am currently a Wells scholar and it has been a wonderful experience. The program offers lots of great opportunities and is incredibly supportive of its students. In the freshman seminar class I became great friends with all the other wells scholars. The close friendship with such other high achieving students is highly beneficial in itself besides the simple social reasons; the wells scholar community is great for finding opportunities on campus and networking with alumni. While studying here the wells program has given me opportunities to interact with high prominence scholars in not only my own field but other fields of study. We have had direct access to talk in small groups with admissions officers of medical schools and other professional schools. The wells name has also been extremely useful for other reasons, the scholarship is extremely respected and just the mention of it can help you get your foot in the door with faculty for research purposes or internships. During my time here I've also had some medical issues and the program helped me figure out how to handle the issue, including going on a temporary medical leave from courses with no repercussions. In this upcoming year I'm planning to use the study abroad experiences to travel to both South America and Europe. The opportunities provided allow a lot of us to travel abroad or carry out projects we would have never otherwise had a chance to do.

Prior to receiving my scholarship my top school choice was the University of Chicago. I turned it down and have absolutely no regrets.

@TheKrouton--I would love to have some additional insight from you. I am an IU alumna and my daughter has just won nomination for the Wells from her out of state high school. IU has always been her first choice, as it is my and my family's alma mater (3rd generation.) However, all of us were in-staters, so we didn't have to deal with the astronomical out of state costs. The Wells is her ticket to her dream. As a NMSF (should convert to NMF,) AP scholar with distinction (in line for national this year with her 6 AP,) 220 PSAT, 35 SS ACT, 1460 CR and M for SAT, 4.12 weighted, 13 AP, and a valedictorian at a nationally-ranked high school, she will be competitive, but I am desperately trying to figure out what will actually do it for her. She is a varsity athlete, captain and MVP of those teams, and she plays club so it is year-round. She has done research at two different labs, one was an internship that she was awarded through a completion with several hundred kids. I know that awards and initiating programs/research seems to be that "extra" push, but I bet you would have some great insight. My niece (the youngest of the family besides my children) just graduated and she said she had some classes with Wells scholars but she did not know any personally to get some inside advice. Would you be willing? (I gave you much of the academic stuff just so you could get a good idea of how she compares to others.) Side note, she is looking seriously at UChicago, too.

@Momonthemove I would also love to have your insight as a parent who has gone through this process with attempting to get the coveted Wells. I would love any advice. All of the details are in post #6 above. Thank you!!

Your daughter has excellent credentials for the Wells program. I would just encourage her to put forth the best application possible and be herself. The folks in the Wells program are very genuine, and I suspect that they look for that trait in their candidates, as well. I believe that they usually receive well over a thousand applications and invite around 100 back for the campus interview weekend in December. Good luck to your daughter in getting to the next round at IU!

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